Me Before You: A Novel

slopes, which meant that Will could move in his chair with complete autonomy. It was a small thing, but him being able to get himself a drink without one of us accompanying him meant not so much a rest for me and Nathan as the brief removal of one of Will’s daily frustrations – being entirely dependent on other people. Not that any of us had to move much anywhere. It seemed wherever you were, beach or poolside, or even the spa, one of the smiling staff would pop up with some drink they thought you might like, usually decorated with a fragrant pink flower. Even asyou lay on the beach, a small buggy would pass, and a smiling waiter would offer you water, fruit juice, or something stronger.
    In the afternoons, when the temperatures were at their highest, Will would return to his room and sleep for a couple of hours. I would swim in the pool, or read my book, and then in the evening we would all meet again to eat supper at the beachside restaurant. I swiftly developed a taste for cocktails. Nadil had worked out that if he gave Will the correct size straw and placed a tall glass in his holder, Nathan and I need not be involved at all. As dusk fell, the three of us talked of our childhoods and our first boyfriends and girlfriends and our first jobs and our families and other holidays we had had, and slowly I saw Will re-emerge.
    Except this Will was different. This place seemed to have granted him a peace that had been missing the whole time I had known him.
    ‘He’s doing good, huh?’ said Nathan, as he met me by the buffet.
    ‘Yes, I think he is.’
    ‘You know –’ Nathan leant towards me, reluctant for Will to see we were talking about him ‘– I think the ranch thing and all the adventures would have been great. But looking at him now, I can’t help thinking this place has worked out better.’
    I didn’t tell him what I had decided on the first day, when we checked in, my stomach knotted with anxiety, already calculating how many days I had until the return home. I had to try for each of those ten days to forget why we were actually there – the six-month contract, my carefully plotted calendar, everything that had comebefore. I had to just live in the moment and try to encourage Will to do the same. I had to be happy, in the hope that Will would be too.
    I helped myself to another slice of melon, and smiled. ‘So what’s on later? Are we doing the karaoke? Or have your ears not yet recovered from last night?’
    On the fourth night, Nathan announced with only faint embarrassment that he had a date. Karen was a fellow Kiwi staying in the next hotel, and he had agreed to go down to the town with her.
    ‘Just to make sure she’s all right. You know … I’m not sure if it’s a good place for her to go alone.’
    ‘No,’ Will said, nodding his head sagely. ‘Very chivalrous of you, Nate.’
    ‘I think that is a very responsible thing to do. Very civic minded,’ I agreed.
    ‘I have always admired Nathan for his selflessness. Especially when it comes to the fairer sex.’
    ‘Piss off, you two,’ Nathan grinned, and disappeared.
    Karen swiftly became a fixture. Nathan disappeared with her most evenings and, although he returned for late duties, we tacitly gave him as much time as possible to enjoy himself.
    Besides, I was secretly glad. I liked Nathan, and I was grateful that he had come, but I preferred it when it was just Will and I. I liked the shorthand we seemed to fall into when nobody else was around, the easy intimacy that had sprung up between us. I liked the way he turned his face and looked at me with amusement, like I had somehow turned out to be so much more than he had expected.
    On the penultimate night, I told Nathan that I didn’t mind if he wanted to bring Karen back to the complex. He had been spending nights in her hotel, and I knew it made it difficult for him, walking the twenty minutes each way in order to sort Will out last thing at night.
    ‘I don’t mind. If it will … you know … give you a bit of privacy.’
    He was cheerful, already lost in the prospect of the night ahead, and didn’t give me another thought beyond an enthusiastic, ‘Thanks, mate.’
    ‘Nice of you,’ said Will, when I told him.
    ‘Nice of you, you mean,’ I said. ‘It’s your room I’ve donated to the cause.’
    That night we got him into mine, and Nathan helped Will into bed and gave him his medication while Karen waited in the bar. In the bathroom I changed into my T-shirt